cwtch
our news and stories from t ŷ hafan
www.tyhafan.org
stories from the… handprint walls When asked what the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Tŷ Hafan is, answers are likely to be really varied. But what has always hit visitors to the hospice is how bursting with colour it is, from its unique atmosphere to the characters you meet and, of course, the vibrant handprint walls. Walking into the heart of the hospice, you are greeted by hand and footprints of all shapes, sizes and colours. The walls have been decorated with these snapshots of a time and place for as long as our doors have been open. They are a huge part of the hospice and so important to those who have left their mark. Memory making is a large part of what we do at Tŷ Hafan and something tangible like the handprints help to make the connection to the happy times spent together last. From Tŷ Hafan children and their families to our patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, these walls illustrate a large part of the Tŷ Hafan story, providing the backdrop for the hand and footprints of those children who pass through our lives all too quickly but leave such an indelible impression. Tŷ Hafan will mean different things to different people, but remembrance is undoubtedly one of our most important elements. To be able to revisit the walls and see these impressions from a different time means so much to families, knowing that there is a place where their precious child will never be forgotten.
They are the hand and footprints of those children who pass through our lives all too quickly but leave such an indelible impression.
04
After more than 20 years of constant use, the walls have had their fair share of dinks and chips. So, to keep it fresh and provide more space to allow us to continue this tradition, as part of the hospice refurbishment, we’ve looked for new ways to preserve the prints. Every print on every wall has been painstakingly digitised, highlighting the faded ones and grouping families, they have then been reproduced onto Perspex and placed in front of the originals so they are protected behind the new walls. It’s a way of ensuring the longevity of the prints and retaining the originals, while staying in keeping with the refurbishment work that is so essential to the way we provide expert care to our families. Families can now see how the new look walls turned out and are able to start adding to them. There are lots of things about our newly refurbished hospice to be excited about, but it really does all start with our famous handprint walls.
